This is not good
by pathtales
Summary: This is not good, not good at all. Kaldur was down, Aremtis was alone, M'gan knows, and Bart just let his secret slip. Nightwing has a lot of damage control to do. (set after before the dawn.)


"You take yours and I'll take mine." Tigress said in the cloud of smoke. She quickly picked up Aqualad and ran off with him.

_What did M'gan do?_ She thought. She carried him off and set him in a safe place before going back to the others. This was not good. Not good at all. She ran to see them fighting the Black Beetle thing but was cut off. She saw they were handling it, so she went to grab Aqualad.

"Kaldur." She said as she shook him. "Kal. Come one, wake up!" She said as she did her best not to panic. He simply looked out with a blank stare. "Shit." She swore as she brought him to sick bay.

"What happened?" one of the aliens asked as they helped him onto a bed.

"The martian girl got to him." She said simply.

"He's in a coma." Another said. "No noticeable brain activity."

"What?!" Tigress demanded.

"Where were you?" Came another voice from the door. Artemis turned around to see the Terror twins and Cameron walking through the door. The later was the one questioning her.

"I was trying to stop the infiltrators when the martian did something to Kaldur." She said irritably. "He's catatonic."

"He's what?" Tommy asked.

"In a coma." Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Damn it." Cameron muttered

"Can you do anything?" Artemis asked with worry.

"Not at the moment, we need to do some emergency tests." The alien said as they started to poke and prod him.

"Man, I'm not going to be the one to tell Black Manta." Cameron said. "Then again, I might get leadership after this."

"Will you shut up." Artemis growled. "We don't even know what's wrong yet."

"You're awfully worried about Kaldur." Tommy drawled. "Maybe those rumors be true."

"What rumors?" Artemis asked, even though she knew.

"That you and Kaldur have… relations." He smirked. Everyone looked at her expectantly.

"Of course we have relations, we work together." She snapped.

"No, I mean of the sexual sort." His smile widened as Artemis narrowed her eyes.

"I don't see how that's any of your business." She said flatly.

"So that's a yes." Cameron smirked with Tupins.

"I'm here to serve the light and to get a good paycheck." She recited the lines perfectly. "Whatever I do in my spare time is my business." Her story was surprisingly Wally's idea. A gun for hire that just happens to be excellent while having a side affair with Kaldur.

"I thought he wasn't over that Atlantian chick." Tupins added and Artemis just shrugged.

"I neither know nor care." She stated. "Again, that's his business. Not mine."

"Ahh, I get it." Cameron smirked as he turned to Tupins. "Co-workers with benefits. We could…"

"Don't even finish your sentence." Tupins glared.

"That's enough if this." Artemis growled again. "I'm Kaldur's second in command, I'll tell Black Manta." She huffed as she stalked out. This was bad. Very bad.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"M'gan just took out Kaldur!" Beast Boy said brightly. "She's probably psyched over that!"

"She did what?" Nightwing asked in panic. He looked over to her and they made eye contact. Just by the look on her face he knew she knew.

"Superboy, take the controls, Ms. M, I need your help in the back." He said quickly and got up, M'gan following close behind.

"What happended?" He asked.

"I saw everything." She said. "He's…a double agent? And Artemis is …alive?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Nightwing said tensely. "Only Wally and I know, and now you. You can't tell anyone."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, still in a daze.

"Because you and Superboy have awful poker faces." He said honestly. "And we needed this to be as real as possible."

"You should have told me." She whispered. "Because I may have just messed everything up."

"What did you do?" Nightwing asked as kindly as he could. He had to take in account the shock she was in.

"I tore apart his mind." She whispered back.

"What do you mean?" Nightwing demanded.

"I just went in and took everything." She cried. "I was hoping to disable him and gather all the information I could to help us."

"What!?"

"I got stopped, so he won't permanently be comatose, but probably for a month or so…"

"He'll be in a coma for a month or so!?" Nightwing yelled.

"Don't get mad at me," she finally snapped back, "I didn't know."

"That doesn't give you the right to put someone in a coma!" Nightwing snapped back. Then his eyes widened in realization. "You've done this before." He stated.

"Yes." M'gan said as she hung her head. They were silent for a long moment before Nightwing sighed.

"As of now you are on probation until I can further review this with Wally and Superboy." He said. Wally may not be a member anymore, but he was still a part of the Senior Leadership.

"Superboy already knows." She whispered again.

"What?" Nightwing asked. "And neither of you said anything?"

"That's why he broke up with me." She said as a tear escaped from her eyes. "Because I wouldn't stop. I don't know why he never told you. He's threatened too multiple times. I understand why now." She full out started crying and Nightwing had no idea what to do. "How wrong it is." She hugged him tightly catching him off guard.

"Look," he said after a moment as he peeled her off. "I won't say anything to the rest of the team for now, but I still have to talk about this with SB and Wally."

"Ok." She sighed.

"I want you to act normal." He continued. "I'll tell Superboy about the secret too. He needs to know at this point."

"I understand." She sighed.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"HE'S WHAT?" Black Manta screamed.

"In a coma." Tigress replied. "The doctors believe he'll be awake in a few months."

"A FEW MONTHS!" He yelled again and Artemis was glad they were not face to face. "WHO ALLOWED THIS TO HAPPEN?"

"He insisted on taking on the martian girl and instructed me to the beetles." She explained. "I found him after the martian girl had gotten to him."

"Foolish." He stated and paused. "Kaldur explained to me his trust in you."

"Sir?"

"I realize you are only a hired hand and not dedicated to the cause for the cause's sake, but I can tell you are loyal to Kadlur."

"Yes sir." She nodded. "He saved my life."

"Yes, among other things." He said and paused again. "Until I am back in contact you are in charge. Come back to the base."

"Understood." She said as she left.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"I... just can't believe it." Jaime said as he and Bart went into the cave. "I become evil?"

"No." Bart said. "The scarab does and takes complete control over you."

"How is that any better?" He exclaimed and Bart was silent. "You've been pretending to be trapped here, but you're actually enjoying this better, aren't you?"

"Yes." Bart said seriously. Jaime was still in awe of seeing him this way. No linger care free and spirited, but haunted and ready for battle. "It's harder than it looks being so cheery all the time."

"I understand." He shook his head. "But I'm still shocked amigo."

"Well, now that you know, you can help me from having my future."

"Let's do it." Blue Beetle agreed.

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A/N: Just a drabble of what I think happened immediately after all this shit went down.


End file.
